Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright’s Minnesota office maintains a reputation for handling labor and employment litigation through Barbara D’Aquila, a highly experienced lawyer with expertise in trying labor and employment cases. She maintains an active employment litigation practice obtaining favorable results for clients. D’Aquila was recently the lead partner defending Union Pacific Railroad Company in a federal court matter involving two disability discrimination in hiring claims bought by a Veteran. The EEOC had found probable cause in the matter. D’Aquila successfully negotiated an early and low dollar confidential settlement to thwart larger exposure against the company. She also successfully defended one of the two defendants, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System, in a jury trial in Texas. The federal court case alleged issues of joint employment, discrimination, harassment and retaliation. She also represents a country club in a lawsuit that was brought by a former General Manager claiming the separation agreement is not valid and that they were allegedly wrongfully terminated and defamed.

The labor and employment practice at Norton Rose Fulbright maintains an active presence in Texas, handling a wide range of employment matters for companies. Lawyers dedicated to handling labor and employment matters mainly operate out of the firm’s Houston and San Antonio offices. The practice regularly handles both single and multi-plaintiff cases throughout state and federal courts. Houston-based Shauna Johnson Clark serves as head of the employment and labor practice in the US. She is the lead partner in two ongoing matters. One matter is on appeal after the team obtained summary judgment in a complex case. The plaintiff was assigned as an expatriate on a 457 work visa to work in Australia. After a number of violations, Australian immigration cancelled the plaintiff’s temporary work visa on the grounds that he breached his character requirements under Australian law and he was unable to work in Australia and therefore, unable to perform his work duties and subsequently terminated for cause by ConocoPhillips. The plaintiff alleged that ConocoPhillips discriminated against him on the basis of national origin and had a policy to nationalize his position and replace him with a non-American in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The plaintiff also alleged ERISA claims. The plaintiff has since appealed to the Fifth Circuit. Clark is also handling a case for Mattress Firm that was originally filed as a FLSA collective action in Massachusetts. However, the client in 2016 implemented an arbitration program that gave employees the opportunity either electronically sign a document agreeing to arbitration, or complete a process to opt-out of signing it. The court ruled in February 2019 that the arbitration agreement at issue was in fact valid, and that it could be enforced against the plaintiffs named in the case. Therefore, the case is stayed pending the arbitration proceeding. Carter Crow defended EOG Resources in a FLSA case against a plaintiff who alleged that the client had misclassified the plaintiff as an independent contractor and thus failed to pay him overtime compensation. The team prevailed against the plaintiff’s attempt to bring the case as collective action and defeated his motion for summary judgment on liability. The case went to trial in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division and Crow obtained a complete defense verdict form the jury.